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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28648110">Did you mean: Destiel?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/albions_need_is_greatest/pseuds/albions_need_is_greatest'>albions_need_is_greatest</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Castiel (Supernatural), Asexuality, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Bisexuality, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Confused Dean Winchester, Confused Sam Winchester, Episode: s10e05 Fan Fiction, Fanfiction, Fanfiction Reader Castiel (Supernatural), Idiots in Love, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Pining, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester is So Done, The Impala (Supernatural), cas falls into a fanfic spiral, it happens to the best of us lmao</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:28:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28648110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/albions_need_is_greatest/pseuds/albions_need_is_greatest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Slowly, he typed into the search bar: "Deastiel" before hitting enter.<br/>"Did you mean: Destiel?"<br/>Cas' eyes narrowed. Did he mean 'Destiel'? He was unsure, but with one last judgement, he clicked on the link in front of him...<br/>And promptly forgot how to breathe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Canon Divergent AU starting loosely based around the episode 'Fanfiction' (10x5). Differences are that Sam, Dean and Cas are in the bunker and Cas ain't running around with Hannah and all that Jazz. Fanfic-trash!Cas :) </p>
<p>Tags will be updated as the chapters are updated</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Supernatural and the characters aint mine :) Please don't repost this fic on any platform</p>
<p>Based off one Tumblr post I saw about the idea of Cas finding Destiel fanfiction and being sad because it's something he thinks will never happen but I can't remember the source of the post or the OP. If you know lemme know in the comments</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At first, it had been innocent enough. He always listened when the Winchesters called, whether consciously or not. And the time at the high-school case was no different. Dean had been thinking about him all morning, and it finally became too much for the angel. Opting to go see the brothers and figure out why Dean was taking up so much of his mind and being so overly loud in his thoughts.</p>
<p>"I don't understand."</p>
<p>"Me neither."</p>
<p>"I mean, shouldn't it be DEA-stiel?" The angel overheard as the brothers walked towards the impala in front of them. Dean spun to face Sam with a fed-up look on his face. </p>
<p>"Really? That's your issue with this?"</p>
<p>"No," Sam chuckled. "Of course that's not my issue." The younger brother moved to lean on the side of the Impala as he continued. "You know, what about Sastiel? Samstiel?"</p>
<p>"Okay, alright, you know what, you're gonna do that thing. Where you just shut the hell up. Forever." Cas saw that Dean's face looked annoyed, and he stayed in the background, not wanting to alert the pair of his existence. </p>
<p>"Look, man, no EMF, no hex-bags, none of their props are even remotely hinky, other than the Charlie Kaufman of it all, I got nothing. You?" The brother's looked back over to the building, and Castiel saw a bright blue sign hanging over the doors. <em>Supernatural: the musical</em>. </p>
<p>"Nah, Miss Chandler's office was just a pile of empty bottles and regret." Dean's voice pulled Cas' attention back to him. "She's probably face down in a bar somewhere," he paused for a moment. "Or a ditch."</p>
<p>"Alright, so what, this whole musical thing, everything its all a coincidence? There is no case?" Dean continued on after he and sam had spent almost half a minute in silence.</p>
<p>"Unless you're seeing something I'm not, no Dean, there's no case here."</p>
<p>"Okay," Dean said, as he stood tall and walked around to the driver's side of the car, Sam gaining a mischievous look in his eye before he spoke once more. </p>
<p>"CasDean?"</p>
<p>"Shut your face. Get in the car."</p>
<p>As the two of them got in the car, Cas zapped himself back to the bunker. He felt terrible. Obviously it had not been a case and therefore whatever the two had been talking about had made Dean quite flustered and annoyed. It was clearly something personal that he should not have heard. Back in the safety of the bunker though, knowing he had a fair few hours before the pair returned, Cas' horrible feeling turned to pure curiosity. Whatever this 'DEA-stiel' was, maybe it would be able to help on a future case? </p>
<p>Before he had time to stop himself, Cas found himself in Dean's room, grabbing the hunter's laptop off of his bedside table. Cas sat on the centre of the edge of the bed and opened it up, ignoring the pizza man in the centre of the screen as he swiped to a new desktop and opened up a new window. Just one quick look. That was all he needed to find out what this was. He would be in and out of Dean's space before he knew what had happened. </p>
<p>Slowly, he typed into the search bar: <em>Deastiel</em> before hitting enter.</p>
<p><em>Did you mean: Destiel?</em> </p>
<p>Cas' eyes narrowed. Did he mean 'Destiel'? He was unsure, but with one last judgement, he clicked on the link in front of him...</p>
<p>And promptly forgot how to breathe.</p>
<p>The page in front of him was filled with links to art and writing and theories about this Destiel. Artwork of two men kissing, one dark-haired in a tan trenchcoat, and the other in about four layers of flannel. They looked surprisingly like him and Dean, Cas thought, before he scrolled further down the page and found out why. </p>
<p>
  <em>Destiel is the slash pairing of Dean Winchester and Castiel, from Carver Edlund's Supernatural books.</em>
</p>
<p>Castiel's mind reeled. Surely these people couldn't mean <strong>him</strong> and dean, right? There must have been some mix-up, another couple that looked just as they did. This must have been why Dean was so confused, Cas thought. Why would people go around making up such stories when they were so similar to real people? Why would they wish to have such control over someone's story as to write it in their own way? But Cas couldn't draw his eyes off the screen. In one last attempt to not dig any further, the angel slammed the laptop shut and threw it behind him to the centre of the bed, before standing up and leaving the room.</p>
<p>It wasn't very long, however, before Castiel realised that his mind was not going to just forget what he had discovered. He couldn't remember a single moment since he had met Dean in which he had not been head over heels for the human. He had fought angels, demons, rebelled against heaven, even given up entire armies, all for Dean. From the first moment when he lay a hand on Dean, to grip him tight and raise him from perdition, Cas had been lost. Since that time, he and Dean had grown close. He had gained Dean's trust. Gained his friendship. Even gained the right to be a part of Dean's family. But the one thing Cas had always longed for, he doubted he would ever have. He thought back to the many stories that were just waiting for him online. He thought to how he still had a while before Sam and Dean returned home. </p>
<p>Wouldn't it be nice just to pretend? Just for once to know what it would be like? Just to live in these other people's shoes? Cas thought to himself as he began to walk back to Dean's room. It wasn't like he would read a lot, just for a bit. It wasn't like he was going to pretend that what he saw could ever be real, it was just an act of curiosity. He knew it wasn't even him, not really. The Dean and Cas these people on the internet spoke of had to be other people. Not him. So it wasn't a big deal. It was just some research. Nothing more, he tried to argue with his own mind before he found himself sitting now in the centre of the bed, laptop open and in front of him as he opened one of the 'fanfictions' he had seen mentioned and began to read.</p>
<p>
  <em>From the moment Dean met Castiel, his whole world was thrown upside down. The wind whirling around the shed as lightning broke through the night sky. The mysterious angel, who could survive bullet wounds and a demon blade to the chest. The man who could put a grown adult to sleep with the touch of his fingers. Standing there in the centre of the room with his tattered suit and his tan trenchcoat, dark hair messy, and bright blue eyes shining, even in the dim moonlight. Right from the start, before Cas even had a chance to speak a word, Dean had fallen. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And with Cas sitting across from him at another no-name diner on a milk-run hunt, Dean was very glad that he had.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"What can I get for you two lovely gentlemen this morning?" The waitress asked them as she smiled down at them cheerfully. Dean started to raise his head from the case file he had been reading, but Cas interrupted, allowing him to continue with his research.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I'll take a coffee please, just black, and my partner will have the special, with a side of bacon, thankyou." </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean looked up at Cas once the waitress had left them, the old newspaper clippings surrounding the haunting they were investigating going unnoticed on the table in front of him. "Damn, you know me well," he smirked.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Dean, you do realise we've been dating for three years. Of course I would know you well."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Yes, Cas, of course, I realise that," Dean said, and the worried look that had been growing across Castiel's face started to recede. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Then why did you sound surprised?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Maybe," Dean said, as he moved his hand across the table to hold Cas' in his own, "it's because sometimes I can surprise myself as to how I came to be the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. I have an amazing boyfriend, there's no current apocalypse, and we get the whole bunker to ourselves every couple of weeks when Sam goes away to visit his 'friend'. When you remember the little things, it reminds me of how lucky I am to have someone who knows so much about me. Who has been there for me for so long, and who has been by my side through so much. You make me feel things I never thought I would. I love you, bee."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I love you too, Dean," Cas said with a soft smile. "But seriously, you have to let me live that down quietly."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Never."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I thought you loved me."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"I do, but it wasn't me who showed up naked on your car covered with bees, was it?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Cas ducked his head at Dean's words, a small blush spreading across his cheeks. "I suppose it is possible that I brought this upon myself." The angel paused for a moment before he continued. "It did, however, send you a clear message."</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And it sparked an interest in bees that is going to last me a lifetime," Dean laughed as their waitress wandered back over to the table. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dean pushed all of his files back into a single pile and handed them to Cas to look over, right as she reached the table. "One special, with a side of bacon for you," she sang as she put the plate in front of Dean. "And one black coffee for you," she smiled as she placed the cup in front of Cas. "I hope you boys enjoy your breakfast," she winked at the pair before walking back across the room to serve the other patrons at the diner. </em>
</p>
<p>Cas heard the engine of the Impala echo throughout the bunker before turning silent. He quickly shut down the tab and cleaned the browser history before shutting the lid of the laptop and running out of the room towards his own, as fast as he could. </p>
<p>"Hey Cas, you here?" He heard Dean yell out from the entrance, and his heart rate begun to speed up immediately. All he could picture was Dean across from him in a diner, as he ordered them breakfast. "Cas?" He heard Dean yell again, closer this time, and he remembered he hadn't yet answered the hunter's question. </p>
<p>"Hello Dean," he said, walking into the kitchen where the hunter now stood. Castiel felt his breathing speed up at the sight of the man in front of him. But he knew he couldn't let on to what he had been doing. Dean was his best friend. Best friends didn't go fantasising about having relationships with each other. Even if Dean did fall for men, which Cas was pretty sure he was only into women. "How was the school?"</p>
<p>"The school?" Dean questioned, confused. </p>
<p>"Yes, for the hunt," Cas elaborated. </p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah, no I get that. I just don't think I told you what Sam and I were hunting. Or where."</p>
<p>"Well, you must have, because I knew."</p>
<p>"True, I probably just don't remember it," Dean paused, and shook his head slightly, almost as if to clear his thoughts, before continuing. "It was a bust, I'm pretty certain of it anyway. For now, no case whatsoever."</p>
<p>"For... now?"</p>
<p>"You know how these things go, nothing is ever just one way. Things change all the time Cas. Just because something's not there now doesn't mean it won't be there later."</p>
<p>"You're very wise, Dean."</p>
<p>"Or just sleep-deprived and highly dosed up on caffeine. I'm gonna go get some rest in case this case picks up again tomorrow."</p>
<p>"Rest well, Dean."</p>
<p>Dean walked out of the kitchen and towards his own room. If, when he got there, he noticed the ruffled sheets, and the laptop out of place, he never said a word.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a bit longer than the last chapter but y'all deserve it after the wait kqnxdhbweidhbdkj</p><p>i really wanted to write the rest of the case, so there's this chapter and one other of that, and then Cas really will start going down the fanfic spiral of dispair™ that we all surely know and love. these next two chapters will include some gay panic on both of their behalves tho don't worry. also i wanted to see how dean and cas would react with marie and maeve :) also don't judge if there's typos i promise i do know how to write its just 10pm and i ain't gonna edit shwbdhbd so I'm using Grammarly as my only editing lmaoooo</p><p>supernatural, the characters and all that doesn't belong to me, I'm merely having a bit of fun with them.</p><p> hope you guys enjoy</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, Sam walked into the kitchen clutching his head as he flopped into a seat at the table, ignoring Dean and Cas completely. </p><p>"Everything okay there, Sammy?"</p><p>Sam groaned in response, as he lay his head on the table.</p><p>"Sam?" Dean asked again.</p><p>"If you're sick I can heal you," Cas offered the younger brother. </p><p>"No, no, it's nothing like that, I'm just not feeling well," Sam said, lifting his head. Dean and Cas both stared at him with one eyebrow raised, before Dean turned back to his coffee, allowing Sam to continue. " was looking for a new case all night, cause I know this high school thing turned out to be nothing, but apparently, it's not. I got a call from the Sheriff's office about ten minutes ago, another girl has gone missing."</p><p>"And you didn't think to start with that?" Dean sighed, putting his coffee back down on the table. "Alright, let's suit up, go check this out. See, I told you it was something." Dean stood up from the table, but Sam remained firmly in his seat. "Sam, did you hear me? If some other girl has gone missing, we need to go."</p><p>"Maybe I'll sit this one out."</p><p>Dean's eyes snapped to meet Cas', as the two of them turned back to where the hunter was once again lying with his head on his arms. "I'm sorry you'll what?" Dean asked. "It's not like you to cop out of a case. What's actually going on with you?"</p><p>"I just don't feel well Dean, it's fine."</p><p>"Well it's obviously not," he paused. "Cas? Can you do your mojo thing?"</p><p>Cas nodded at Dean, before turning back to Sam. "Let me heal you, Sam." The angel reached out to Sam only for Sam to raise his head and shake it in refusal. Cas drew his hand back, features turning to confusion, and Dean's face mirrored his own. </p><p>"Guys, it's nothing, I just need to sleep it off and I'll be fine."</p><p>"The case?" Dean raised his eyebrow once more as his voice rose with frustration. </p><p>"Cas is here, he can help."</p><p>"We already introduced ourselves as the primary agents for this."</p><p>"I'm sure you'll be able to think of something."</p><p>Dean let out a heavy sigh before running his hand through his hair. "Okay Cas, looks like you're with me, go get suited up."</p><p>"Is something wrong with what I usually wear for investigations?" </p><p>"No, nothing at all," Dean quickly reassured Cas as he glanced down at his outfit with confusion in his eyes. "Maybe just, you know, for this one, you could maybe uhh, ditch the trenchcoat? Just this once?"</p><p>"You don't like my trenchcoat?"</p><p>"No, no, Cas, it's not like that, it's just you know, the uhh," Dean tried to ignore the small amused laugh that came from his brother. "Trenchcoats and high schools don't go well together man. Don't want you looking like a creep do we."</p><p>Cas paused for a moment, deep in thought. "No, I suppose that would not be ideal."</p><p>"Exactly." Dean walked out of the kitchen towards his room, only to stick his head back around the corner. "Oh and uh, come and wear one of my ties instead." He said, before hurrying down the corridor towards his room, Cas followed closely behind after sending one last look Sam's way. </p><p>For a small moment, as he went after Dean, Cas' mind flashed back to what he had read the night before. He hadn't been on a case with only Dean in a while, and although he knew he would love to spend more time with him, the angel was conflicted. He wasn't meant to know any of what he did about the case. Not about the school, and definitely not about discovering Destiel. He couldn't let Dean know what he had heard, or else the hunter would know he had been eavesdropping on their conversation the day before. Not only that, but if Dean was so willing to keep details to himself about what the both of them, surely it meant that this, the destiel, made him uncomfortable. Cas couldn't begin to guess how uncomfortable Dean would be if he knew what Cas had done on his laptop. </p><p>So no, Cas decided then and there. There was no way Dean was going to find out. Cas had his friendship, and if that was all he could get, then he would gladly take it.</p><p>***</p><p>"So I checked with the principal, nothing on the surveillance tapes. What do the cops think?"</p><p>Cas looked up from his phone, before showing it to Dean. "The only clue they found was behind the dumpster. They found the same flower near Miss Chandler's cellphone when she disappeared."</p><p>"Do you recognise it?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"We should show it to Sam later, see what he comes up with."</p><p>"Well, what do we do now?"</p><p>"Now," Dean said, turning towards the stage at the front of the auditorium, "we speak to them. Those two are the brains behind this gig. Maeve, ponytail, she's in charge of the behind the scenes work. Does lighting, sound checks, Sam loved the tour he got yesterday. Marie, in the hat, she's the director, writer, she does a lot. This whole thing was her idea. Her 'interpretation' of the Supernatural books or whatever chuck wrote about us. She's also the only witness to the disappearance last night."</p><p>Marie and Maeve didn't look up whilst Cas and Dean got closer to them, only turning to face them when Dean spoke. "Hey."</p><p>"Let me guess, you came here to laugh at me too, right?"</p><p>Dean stole a glance over to Cas before taking the lead and looking back at the girl in front of him. "Why don't you tell us what happened to your friend?"</p><p>"Why don't you tell me what happened to yours?"</p><p>"Excuse me?"</p><p>"Agent <em>Smith</em> I believe it was. He was here yesterday but today you have someone else. Are we trying to go for the most number of people we can get to say I'm crazy?"</p><p>"No, that's not," Dean started defensively, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "My partner yesterday woke up feeling unwell. He was unable to continue with the case due to his health, and so Agent... Johnson, here, has stepped up to help me out."</p><p>Cas nodded to the two girls before Dean continued. "Now, please, just tell us what happened to your friend."</p><p>Marie took a breath, glancing between Agent Smith and Agent Johnson before she spoke. "Maggie quit the show. She was trying to get us shut down and so we were fighting, then she, she left and I heard her scream. So I ran outside to help. And," she stopped, and Dean could tell she was worried about what she was about to say. "And I saw a scarecrow." Dean nodded, his eyes glancing up towards the ceiling as he tried to suppress a smile. Cas noticed, sending a glare Dean's way before Marie continued speaking. "It looked just like the one from our show. But... alive."</p><p>"Then what?" Dean asked after he had wiped any trace of a possible smirk off his face. </p><p>"It wrapped her up in vines and took her behind a dumpster. And then they were both just, gone. So, I called the cops, and a bunch of adults just told me I had an overactive imagination. But its all real. Ghosts. Angels," Dean turned to Cas and gave a small, knowing nod. "Demons."</p><p>"I want to believe," Maeve spoke for the first time since they had arrived, her voice quiet and worried. </p><p>"You should believe," Cas said, and the girls looked up at him immediately. "You should both believe. Because it is, all, real."</p><p>"And so are we," Dean added at the end. "I'm Dean Winchester, and that's..." Dean trailed off. If either of the girls found out who 'Agent Johnson' truly was, he doubted he would ever hear the end of it. From anyone. He couldn't tell them, not now. Not with the amount of interest these two had in the 'subtext' or whatever they wanted to call it. There was no way he could tell them that the man beside him was Castiel. Yet here he stood, having backed himself into another corner in which it would be very difficult to get out of, all because he wanted the girls to know they weren't going insane. "That's my... colleague." he finished lamely.</p><p>Marie looked up at him with disbelief. "Your colleague?"</p><p>"My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the lord."</p><p>Dean felt his heart drop to his stomach as he tore his eyes away from Cas and the girls, and glued them to the farthest surface he could find. He clenched his jaw, and tried to focus on his breathing which had decided to become increasingly unstable. The two people in the whole world which would for sure ask all the questions Dean didn't even want to consider. He was already concerned with the amount of doubt his tour yesterday had set in his mind. About Cas. About his life. About his entire fucking sexuality. The girls were still staring at the pair of them, and the silence soon became unbearable for the hunter. "The uh, the scarecrow. In the musical. Is it based off the one in the books?"</p><p>"No," Marie said, turning slowly to give her full focus to Dean. "I changed it. I got scared of a local legend when I was a kid." Dean and Cas looked at her expectantly when she paused, nodding for her to continue. "There was this old, creepy scarecrow on an abandoned farm outside of town. Kids used to say if it caught you, it would take you away."</p><p>"Okay, well if this scarecrow was based off your version, Miss Chandler and Maggie may still be alive."</p><p>"You think this scarecrow is created by the play?" Maeve asked Dean. </p><p>"You think, it's a tulpa," Marie realised. </p><p>***</p><p>"Tulpas are monsters created by intense, focused energy on an idea," Cas explained to Marie and Maeve as they sat at a small table in the school's library. </p><p>"An idea... or a story," Marie corrected him. </p><p>"Great," Maeve said sarcastically. "How do you kill an idea?"</p><p>"Well in hellhouse, Sam and Dean burned the house down to take out this one Tulpa they hunted." </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes before elaborating. "Yeah yeah, you kill the symbol you kill the Tulpa. Thats uhh, actually a pretty good start. So, the scarecrow in your play. Is it a person or a prop?"</p><p>"Prop." Marie answered, and Dean felt his mind flood with relief. It was much easier to kill a prop than a, well, there wasn't even a need to entertain that idea. The scarecrow was a prop. "And it's terrifying. We keep it in the boiler room."</p><p>Cas' eyes widened. "Great, that's great. Can you two read this for a minute while my partner and I have a quick discussion?"</p><p>The two girls nodded as Cas and Dean moved away from the pair, closer to the door. "Well?"</p><p>"Dean, you know as well as I that a Tulpa would require much more energy than this play would give it."</p><p>"Well what else can we do? If Sam were here I'd put him on the flower lead, but that's not exactly your strong point."</p><p>"What, research?" Cas said, shocked as Dean shrugged pathetically. "I can contact Sam, and look into the flower with him and see if there is anything he can tell us. I'm sure I will also be more than capable of finding something myself, Dean."</p><p>"Okay, well you can have Maeve to help you then," Dean said, walking back to the girls before Cas had a chance to reply, and speaking directly to Marie. "Can you show me to the boiler room?"</p><p>"Yea, sure," she said, a hint of confusion in her voice as she got out of her seat and started leading Dean from the room. Once the two had left, Cas walked back over to the table and sat down next to Maeve. </p><p>"Maeve, my partner and I think we may find more information if we look into this flower," Cas showed her the picture on his phone before he continued. "I'm sure I have seen this somewhere before, so I think we may be looking at a creature more powerful than a Tulpa. Would you mind helping me read through a couple of books while I make a phone call to see if Sam has an opinion on this?"</p><p>"Yeah, that's uh, that's fine."</p><p>Maeve turned to the book Cas had given her, and began to flick through the pages, looking for any diagrams or drawings of the flower she had been shown. In the background, she could vaguely hear Cas talking on the phone, as he described the flower with detail she didn't know possible. Somehow he not only knew its appearance, but also that it could be used in multiple medicinal ways, dating back to ancient times, and what it smelled like. After what seemed like forever, she finally heard him end the phone call, and walk back over to the shelves, only to return with a pair of new books.</p><p>"Sam thinks the flower could be connected to Greek mythology. We should look in these," he stated, before opening the first book and beginning to flick through the pages. Maeve did the same thing, before she decided to speak up.</p><p>"So you two are really sticking with your crazy ass alibis?"</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"I mean," Maeve said, turning to the older man, "you, calling yourself Castiel, your partner supposedly being <em>the</em> Dean Winchester, and you just phoned a Sam? Like how Dean has a brother called Sam in the books? It's just fiction, those people don't exist and yet you stick with your alibis?"</p><p>"But we do exist."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Cas softened his gaze, and turned away from the book he was studying to give his full attention to Maeve. "Maeve, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but those... books... that you so love and enjoy, they are real. The monsters, the fights, the drama, the love and the tragedy, and especially the characters. They're all real."</p><p>"The love?"</p><p>"All of it."</p><p>"All of it?"</p><p>"Yes," Cas said, his eyes dropping. "Sometimes I wish it wasn't, it would be so much... simpler, if there were no monsters, or demons or angels or gods, but there is, and that-" Cas stopped suddenly, pulling Maeve's book in front of him and flipping through the pages with a deep intensity. His eyes were focussed, and he got halfway through the book before turning the book and pointing at the purple flower in the centre of the page. "Calliope."</p><p>"Calliope?" Maeve queried him.</p><p>"Yes, Calliope. I believe she is what we are hunting," Cas moved his hand along the page, as he continued to talk to Maeve. "Calliope is one of the nine muses in Greek Mythology. Daughters of Zeus that were goddesses of the arts. She was the muse of epic poetry, and it is said that she inspires creativity in directors and producers, or creators of stories, only to devour them once their vision is realised."</p><p>"Marie," Maeve said softly.</p><p>"Yes, in this case that would be Marie."</p><p>"How can we stop her?"</p><p>"Calliope can only be killed by a blessed wooden stake. I do not believe Dean is in possession of one we would need. I would have to find it before the play began."</p><p>"But the play is tomorrow night. There won't be enough time." Cas could see the worry and fear begin to creep onto Marie's face, as her eyes started to water. Cas stood from his seat, and gestured for her to aswell, before pulling her into a hug. Using his grace to reassure her ever so slightly, and his wings to keep her safe.</p><p>"We will save your friend, I promise you. I'm an angel, remember?"</p><p>She looked up at him, pulling away with a smile. "Thank you, Castiel."</p><p>"Please, just Cas."</p><p>"Okay then. Thankyou, Cas."</p><p>***</p><p>"Girder your loins, it's horrifying." Marie warned Dean as the pair of them walked into the boiler room. In the centre of the room, stood what Dean assumed had to be the scarecrow. Covered over by a sheet as to not scare anyone who walked in, as well as, he assumed, to prevent it from being destroyed before the show. Marie stepped away from where the scarecrow stood, and so the hunter stepped forward. He lifted the corner of the sheet and pulled, only to be met with two buttons and some stitched 'teeth'. Marie shuddered, and began to look sick. </p><p>"Really?" Dean asked, disbelievingly. </p><p>"I know," Marie responded. "Scary right?"</p><p>Dean rolled his eyes, unable to believe what was going on. The scarecrow was laughable. Something that you would see as a fake prop in a cheap Halloween store, when you didn't want to put in any actual effort to make your yard scary. But as he looked over to Marie, and saw the terror on her face, he thought about what it would have been like to only discover about the supernatural recently. To not know how to defend yourself against the monsters that went bump in the night. </p><p>After a few seconds, he walked over to one of the work benches that lined the entry of the room near the door, and picked up a decent enough sized wrench, before holding it out to Marie. "You wanna pinata this asshat?"</p><p>"Asshat? Nice. Thats uh, very Dean," she paused slightly. "But no, he's all yours."</p><p>Dean continued to hold the wrench out, sensing her hesitation at saying no. "You know, if this thing scared you as much as you said it did as a kid, this is your chance to get rid of it. Not many people get the chance to destroy the monsters under their beds."</p><p>"It wasn't under my bed, it was in a cornfield."</p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow at her, and a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I can see you considering it."</p><p>"I just, I've never purposefully destroyed anything, this is just..."</p><p>"Look, if you really do want me to, then I'll do it." Marie nodded slightly, and Dean pulled the wrench back to him, lifting it high to swing at the scarecrow.</p><p>"Wait," Marie said, stepping closer to him. "I want to do it." With a nod and a smile, Dean handed over the wrench. Marie lifted the wrench and swung with all her might, and the scarecrow fell to the floor with a thud. Dean reached down and grabbed the first pile of hay, passing it to Marie so she could chuck it in the fire. "Adios, Asshat."</p><p>Dean let out a laugh behind her. "Asshat? Nice. That's uh, very me."</p><p>"You can drop the alibi, Agent. You can't really expect me to believe you're <em>the </em>Dean Winchester from the books."</p><p>"And why not?"</p><p>"Because they're works of fiction. The hunts, the fights, the characters, everything about those books is fictional. They're just stories."</p><p>"The monsters are real," Dean pointed out.</p><p>"Well, yes, but-"</p><p>"And are we or are we not hunting right now?"</p><p>"I guess we are, but-"</p><p>"And pray tell what the characters look like?"</p><p>"I guess there are... some similarities, but younger versions of yourself."</p><p>"Exactly," Dean smiled. "A fair few years have passed since Swan Song, Marie. Maybe if Sam and I would have let Chuck continue writing then there would be more accurate descriptions of us, but hey, that's why we got him to stop in the first place."</p><p>"But, the books were written by Carver Edlund. Not anyone named Chuck."</p><p>"Edlund was his penname. Real name was Chuck Shurley. He's a prophet. That's how he got the adventures of Sam and I to be so detailed in the books," Dean paused, his heart beginning to beat faster as he continued on. "Besides, with all that subtext crap you pulled yesterday, do you really think I would make up a claim to being Dean Winchester, only to have a new partner claim to be Castiel? When I know you, what was it, 'explore the act of Destiel in act two'?"</p><p>Marie looked at Dean in shock, only now beginning to realise that he was telling the truth. "You really are Dean."</p><p>"That's what I've been saying, kid," Dean turned around to see how much more of the scarecrow they had to burn, but to his surprise there was none of it left. "We should probably head back, but just one thing."</p><p>"Yes Dean?"</p><p>Dean and Marie began walking back to the library to meet up with Cas and Maeve as he started to speak.</p><p>"Please don't mention this, you know, the uh, the thing, with uh me and uh me and Cas. The uh, the, don't mention the Destiel around him okay? I only just got his friendship back after being a demon for a while, and I don't want to lose what I have with him. He's quite happy with being my very platonic friend, and if I'm honest I am pretty sure the dude's straight. Or as straight as a celestial wave of intent can be. but like, yeah, please just, don't mention it around him? We should be gone by the second act anyway tomorrow night this should be over, so there's not long that we have to be careful, but I just don't want to lose that friendship so soon after I got his friendship back, I can't lose that again and I just-"</p><p>"Dean, relax, okay? You're sounding very flustered and it's obvious that you care about Cas a lot," Dean turned around to give her a glare. "And that, very well, could be in a very intense platonic way," Marie backtracked, putting her hands up in a sign of surrender. "I won't tell him anything, and I won't bring it up around you both."</p><p>"Thanks, Marie."</p><p>"But," she sang with a smile on her face, "If you do feel for him more than just a friend would, you need to tell him. Talk to him about it. I promise you, you won't lose his friendship over telling him how you feel."</p><p>"How are you so sure?" Dean asked, opening the door.</p><p>"Oh but look, we're back at the library already. Thankyou," she said, as she stepped into the room where Cas and Maeve were waiting. With a smile bright on her face. Dean matched one equally as cheery and sped into the room. </p><p>"We came, we saw, we kicked i-"</p><p>"-t's not a Tulpa."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"It's not a Tulpa." Cas repeated.</p><p>"Say that one more time but with a bit more Arnold," Dean said. "Like, 'It's not a Tulpa'." Marie smiled again behind him, much to Cas' annoyance.</p><p>"Dean, come on. It's Calliope."</p><p>"Who?" Dean and Marie asked at the same time, confusion filling their faces.</p><p>"The goddess of epic poetry? The muse." Maeve explained. "She's associated with the flower found at both sites where the disappearances occurred. The <em>Borage</em> or 'star flower'."</p><p>"Alright so, if this is a god thing then what's with the scarecrow?" Dean turned to ask Cas.</p><p>"According to the lore, Calliope manifests creatures of the story she has tuned in to."</p><p>"So, the scarecrow is still alive," Marie started, only to quickly become annoyed as she turned to Dean with a glare. "And we burned my prop for nothing?"</p><p>"Oh that thing needed to burn." Dean replied with a smile. </p><p>"Calliope uses these manifestations to inspire the author, and to protect them until their vision is realised," Cas continued, ignoring the two standing. "And then, once the vision is realised, she uh, she eats the author." He finished, looking back down to the books on the table.</p><p>"Okay, that's bad. That's very bad." Dean looked over to Marie, who had become very pale. "Looks like you get your wish," she said as she met his eyes. "Let's cancel the show."</p><p>"Thats what Miss Chandler and Maggie tried to do," Maeve stepped in. "They tried to take the show to the principal and get it shut down, and so the scarecrow took them. Protecting you so that your vision could be realised."</p><p>"Right, so the scarecrow is the boogie man and we've got to take our chances with this Calliope, but she won't show herself until Marie's vision is realised." Dean turned to Cas. "Is there a way to kill this son of a bitch?"</p><p>"I believe so, yes. The lore is that she can be killed with a blessed wooden stake. I know where to find one, but it will take me a few hours."</p><p>"Well Cas, luckily we won't need it until tomorrow night."</p><p>"Wait... what are you saying?" Marie said, turning to Dean.</p><p>"The show must go on." Dean and Cas said simultaneously.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this was originally going to be a two-shot but i thought of a character arc for ace!cas in this fic and so I'm going to use that idea, and to do it properly i need a longer fic so yeah lmao y'all get more chapters of cas spiralling in fanfic as he continues to read, and hide it from the boys for now lmaoooooo</p>
<p>hope you enjoyed :)</p>
<p>feel free to leave kudos or a comment if you liked it! <br/>If you want me to do a full fic for the piece cas read, lemme know too!<br/>also if you have a prompt for any of the fanfic within the fanfic, comment below! what would you like cas to read?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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